1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to a compartment for holding batteries and more specifically to a compartment that stores replaceable or rechargeable batteries and also serves as a door to the battery compartment.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of rechargeable or disposable batteries and microelectronics, small disposable or rechargeable batteries have been used to power electronic instruments and devices. The combination of these disposable or rechargeable batteries and the small lightweight electronics renders the electronic devices or instruments relatively mobile.
Typically, the batteries are enclosed or encased in a housing which also contains the electronic components for the device. A typical battery compartment and door is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the batteries 1 are typically of the elongated cylindrical type such as AA, AAA, C or D cells and are often placed lengthwise across the battery compartment 2 as shown. The battery compartment door 3 fits over, encases and encloses the batteries within the compartment.
Battery doors such as battery door 3 typically have sides 4 which contact side supports 5 around battery compartment 2 so that as battery door 3 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow, battery sides 4 contact side supports 5 to position battery door 3. As battery door 3 is moved further over battery compartment 2, a fastening latch 6a contacts a slot 6 to lock battery door 3 in position over compartment 2. The edge of battery door 3 furthest from slot 6 often has a ridge 8 which contacts a corresponding groove 9 in the edge of battery compartment 2 for encasing the ridge 8 to prevent movement of battery door 3 away from battery compartment 2.
The prior art battery compartment and door shown in FIG. 1 and described above is not intended to encompass all battery compartments and doors, but is instead merely intended to illustrate a typical battery compartment and door. Innumerable changes and variations to the description described above and shown in FIG. 1 exist and are clearly understood and well known to those skilled in the art.
A common problem with battery compartments and doors such as that described above is that it is often relatively difficult to align the sides 4 of battery door 3 with the side supports 5 to position the battery door 3 to cover and encase the battery compartment 2.
An additional problem is that the battery compartment 2 is often not isolated from the interior of the housing 7 which encloses not only the battery compartment 2 but the electronics of the device. Consequently, when the batteries 1 leak within battery compartment 2, the leaking battery acid moves into and contacts the electronic components within housing 7 thereby damaging the electronic components.
Another problem with prior art battery compartments is that it is relatively difficult to remove the batteries 1 from the battery compartment 2. Because the batteries 1 are typically pushed into and enclosed by the battery compartment 2, finger access is restricted so that it is difficult to pry the batteries 1 out of the battery compartment 2. Often a cloth or similar strap is attached to the battery compartment 2 below the battery so that by raising an exposed end of the strap, the strap moves the batteries out of the battery compartment 2. However, placing and positioning the strap is difficult and removing the batteries with the strap is an awkward operation.
A further problem with prior art battery compartments and doors is that when the housing 7 is shocked as by dropping or a similar occurrence, stress very often causes the battery door 3 to jar loose from its connections and to fall away from the housing 7. When this happens the battery door 3 may either be lost or damaged. In addition, with the battery door 3 no longer in position, the shock may be sufficient to cause the batteries 1 to fall out of the battery compartment 2.
Another problem with the prior art battery compartments and doors is that the springs that are used to securely position the batteries against the electrical contacts within the battery compartment 2 must typically be greatly compressed in order to place the batteries within the compartment. After the batteries are placed in the battery compartment, the compressed spring relaxes somewhat and biases the opposite end of the battery to contact an electrical contact point. This stressing of the spring from no compression to highly compressed to mildly compressed during the process of loading batteries into the battery compartment may lead to spring fatigue which may eventually manifest itself in a weak contact between the battery and the electrical contact.
Very often in electronic devices, switches or similar means often need to be set to control the operation of the device. Very often it is intended that these switches should be set once and then not ordinarily reset during the operation of the device. Consequently, when this is the intended use of the switches, it is desirable to house the switches so that accidental or unintended resetting or movement of the switches may not occur. However, when it is appropriate to reset the switches, it is desirable to provide an easy access to the switches. But, restricting access to the switches also often makes it difficult to have access to the switches when desired.
Further, it is often desirable to ensure that power from the batteries is not enabled to the device when the switches are being set. Currently, it is difficult to easily ensure that the battery power is disconnected when the switches are being reset. It is desirable to provide a device that ensures that power is not supplied to the device while the switches controlling operations of the device are set.